Loan star Danny Mills is slowly coming to terms with landing his first winner's medal at last.

Despite a long career that's seen him compete in UEFA Cup and Champions League semi-finals with Leeds United, the England full-back had still to land a major honour going into Sunday's Carling Cup Final.

The nearest he'd come up to that point was a Division One play-off winner's medal when Charlton beat Sunderland at Wembley in 1998.

"It's nice to win a first medal," said the relieved defender. "It's been a long time coming.

"And it's fantastic for the club to be in Europe. It's a massive bonus."

It remains to be seen as to whether Mills is around to savour the delights of European football. His loan deal ends in May and Boro and Leeds have as yet been unable to thrash out a permanent transfer.

The 26-year-old has always said that he would be happy to stay on Teesside and refused to rule out a deal being done further down the line.

He said: "Football is strange. It has many twists and turns, as we saw on Sunday.

"It was a fantastic day for the club, European football beckons and if I'm part of that, then great. But, like I've said before, it's out of my hands."

Looking back to the emotional rollercoaster that was Sunday's final, Mills made a point of paying tribute to chairman Steve Gibson.

"It was a fantastic day for the fans and for the chairman because without his efforts and all of his support this would never have been possible.

"It's also a massive thing for the fans. All the fans that travelled down to Cardiff, all the fans that listened to it on the radio or watched on television."

* George Boateng's booking on Sunday means he will miss the Premiership clash against Birmingham City at the Riverside on Saturday, March 13. There are still tickets available for tomorrow night's rearranged Premiership match against The Blues at St Andrews.